Belize City is the largest city in the Central American country of Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. The population of Belize City is 68,000, with neighboring suburbs adding up to about 80,000. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country’s principal port and its financial and industrial hub. Several cruise ships drop anchor outside the port and are tended by local citizens. It was the capital of British Honduras (as Belize was then named) until the government was moved to the new capital of Belmopan in 1970.
Belize City spreads out Mile 6 on the Western Highway and Mile 5 on the Northern Highway, at the Haulover Bridge. The City proper is usually divided into two areas: Northside, bounded by the Haulover Creek and ending in the east at the Fort George area, and Southside, extending to the outskirts of the City and the Port area and including downtown. Freetown, the westernmost constituency on Northside, is home to the Belama, Coral Grove, Buttonwood Bay and Vista Del Mar suburbs. Within the city proper it extends up to around the former Belize Technical College area. Caribbean Shores includes Kings’ Park, a small suburb north and west of Freetown Road, West Landivar, home to two of the University of Belize‘s three City campuses, and residential University Heights. Pickstock inhabits the banks of the Haulover Creek extending to Barrack Road. St. John’s Cathedral stands attractively upon its well-manicured lawn on the southern end of Albert Street. St. John’s is the oldest Anglican Church in Central America, and one of the oldest buildings in Belize. The orange bricks came to Belize aboard British ships as ballast. Construction began in 1812, and the church was completed in 1820. St. John’s is the only Anglican cathedral in the world outside of England where the crowning of kings took place. On the Southside, Lake Independence, Collet and Port Loyola are home to some of the City’s poorest residents. “London bridges”, rickety wooden pallets linking dwellings, and low-strung poles are not uncommon here. On the east side of Central American Boulevard are Mesopotamia, Queen’s Square and Albert, which are slightly better. Albert contains the downtown streets of Albert and Regent Streets.
The divisions of the City are linked by three bridges: the Swing Bridge, located at Market Square and North Front Street; the Belchina Bascule Bridge at the Douglas Jones Street and Youth for the Future Drive junction, and the Belcan Bridge linking Central American Boulevard and the Roundabout leading to the Northern Highway and Caribbean Shores. Numerous smaller bridges link individual streets. The three main canals running in Belize City, are Haulover Creek, Burdon Canal and Collet Canal. All of them run through the Southside.
The majority of working Belizeans travel to work in downtown offices or else ply their trade on the street sides. Belize City is home to branches of all the major banks of Belize and the Central Bank, as well as nearly all insurance centers, marketplaces and the like. Belize City is the hub for both national and international air, sea and road travel.
[caption id="attachment_224331" align="aligncenter" width="590"] European Museum of the Year Award[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) is presented each year by the European Museum Forum (EMF) under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The EMYA is considered the most important annual award in the European museum sector. Museums in 47 European countries, all members of the Council of Europe, can take part in the competition if they are newly opened or have undergone modernization or expansion ...
